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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fist-Sized Tumor Taken From Craswell’s Thigh Surgery Successful, But Further Treatment Regarded As ‘Prudent’

Associated Press

A cancerous tumor about the size of a fist or orange was removed Wednesday from the right thigh of Ellen Craswell, defeated candidate for governor, surgeons at the University of Washington Hospital said.

The two-hour operation was a success, leaving no sign of cancer anywhere in her body, Dr. James D. Bruckner and Dr. Ernest U. Conrad said in a news conference.

“We expect her to make a full recovery and do extremely well,” Bruckner said.

Craswell, 64, of Poulsbo, should be able to stand and perhaps walk with the aid of crutches or a walker by Friday and drop the crutches in about two weeks, Conrad said.

By then, he said, a decision is likely on whether to pursue chemotherapy, radiation treatment or other procedures to prevent the cancer from recurring.

He rated her chance of a recurrence at 5 percent to 10 percent. On the average, about 70 percent to 75 percent of patients who undergo removal of liposarcoma live at least another five years.

Further treatment is advisable to reduce the risk that cancer cells which might remain in her blood could lodge in the lungs, Conrad said.

“Her only real risk is what circulates in her blood stream today.” he said.

In terms of its growth and capacity to spread cancer to other parts of the body, the tumor was rated intermediate but showed some “high-grade tendencies,” so further treatment is prudent, he explained.

Besides the nearly 3-inch liposarcoma, a five-member surgical team removed one of the four quadrilateral muscles in the thigh and part of another.

“She still has a very functional thigh,” Conrad said. “She will have very good (leg) muscle function, we believe.”

Craswell, a Republican, served 16 years in the state Legislature and lost to Democrat Gary Locke in the race for governor Nov. 5.

She first noticed the tumor in middle or late September and called it to the attention of her doctor, who recommended further examination if it grew, Conrad said.

“It was not known what the tumor was,” he added.

Roughly three weeks later, in early October, she noticed it had grown and went for another examination, after which “her evaluation proceeded fairly quickly,” Conrad said.

About a week after the election, a biopsy confirmed that the tumor was cancerous.

“She has been through this sort of treatment before. She was very calm … relaxed,” Bruckner said.

Chemotherapy before the operation was rejected partly because Craswell received that treatment with an agent called adramycin in 1982, when she survived a bout with ovarian cancer.

Another full round of adramycin could cause heart damage, but a lesser dosage might be administered along with other chemotherapeutic agents, Conrad said.

Liposarcoma is a malignant tumor that occurs in fatty and connective tissue rather than in organs. It occurs in three or four people out of a million and accounts for about 5,000 to 10,000 cancer cases a year in the United States.

Conrad said Craswell was fortunate that the tumor was in a fairly obvious place. Hidden behind a bone or organ, some tumors of the same type get to be as big as a grapefruit or volleyball before being detected.